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King Henry VIII
King Henry VIII was a notable king of England, famous for having six wives and for breaking the Church of England from Catholicism; he is the central character of The Tudors ''and appears in all episodes. He ruled for nearly forty years and became one of England's most infamous kings, both a charismatic leader and a monster in his own right. ''The Tudors ''does not historically accurately chronicle Henry's life in terms of the passage of ''time, but they did stay true to most historical events during his reign. He is played by Irish actor Jonathan Rhys-Meyers in an award-winning role. Henry's six wives reigned in the following order: Catherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn, Jane Seymour, Anne of Cleves, Katherine Howard and Catherine Parr. He had three children by the first three, each of whom succeeded him on the throne: King Edward VI (the youngest), son of Jane Seymour, Queen Mary I (the eldest), daughter of Catherine of Aragon, and Queen Elizabeth I, daughter of Anne Boleyn. Henry also had at least one bastard son, Duke Henry Fitzroy of Richmond (by one of his mistresses, Elizabeth Blount) who died at age 16 (in the series he dies as a little boy) and may have had other illegitimate children. Season One Season One focuses mostly on Henry's annullment of his marriage to Catherine of Aragon and his affair with the beautiful Anne Boleyn. The first episode opens with everybody recieving news of Henry's uncle's death, which has made Henry mad with grief and extremely furious. Henry declares that they must declare war on France. He then goes to sleep with his maid. Henry is constantly cheating on his wife Catherine, however she is not aware of his adulterous ways until she discovers his maid the Lady Elizabeth is pregnant with his child. Henry is ecstatic when Lady Elizabeth has a son, who is named Henry Fitzroy. Henry sends the boy away to his own establishment when he is of old enough age, however, Henry's happiness at having a son is short-lived, as Henry Fitzroy catches the sweating sickness and dies. Lady Elizabeth, dressed in black, comes to her son's bed where he lies dead and cries, while episode 5 ends with a devastated Henry crying about his son's death while looking at the crown his son wore when he was named Duke. Anne and Henry make plans to get married and when Henry announces to Catherine of Aragon, his wife, that their marriage was null and void and that it has come to an end, she is devastated. Anne promises Henry a son. The first season ends with Henry riding with Anne on horseback into the forest; they get off their horses and have sex but Anne shoves Henry off and tells him "No you musn't" after he attempts to get her pregnant. Henry, furious, screams in anger and storms off out of the forest. Season Two Henry is now married to Anne Boleyn. Henry's beard indicates that he and Anne have been married for a few years now. Henry sleeps with Anne, causing her to get pregnant. However, much to Henry's disappointment, Anne has a girl who is named Elizabeth I. After getting pregnant again, Anne catches Henry kissing Jane Seymour, a woman who has been made Anne's lady-in-waiting, and goes into shock, miscarrying Henry's male child. Anne tells Henry, "I'm sorry," but he simply walks away. This episode, episode 8, closes with Henry declaring his marriage to Anne null and void. Henry's affections begin shifting as the Seymour family is awarded new and more luxurious rooms at Court, replacing the Boleyns as the new royal favourites. During episode 8, Henry recieves a serious wound to his leg while jousting that would cause him great pain in later life; this wound gives him ulcers repeatedly in later seasons. Anne, having lost a son, has lost her chance at having a lasting marriage with Henry. Members of Court move against her; she is accused of adultery and witchcraft, and four of her supposed lovers, including her friend Mark Smeaton and brother George, and sentenced to death, and so is Anne. Her four supposed lovers are executed at the Tower. Anne awaits her own death, grief-stricken. Her execution is delayed by the executioner's late arrival. Henry visits Jane Seymour, asking for her hand in marriage. Jane and Henry become engaged. Anne is executed; Henry devours a swan and smiles. This is how season 2 ends. Season Three Henry and Jane marry. Henry falls deeply in love with Jane, who in turn mends Henry's relationships with his family. Jane becomes a good friend of Henry's daughter Mary. After sleeping with Henry, Jane subtly implies her pregnancy by her craving quail eggs. Jane gives birth to a son, but the birth is long and painful. She contracts an illness and dies 12 days after Edward's birth, much to Henry's devastation. He isolates himself in his chambers, depressed and devastated. Season Four Personality Henry's personality is shown to change considerably over the series; yet, the most consistent trait, unfortunately, is that he is extremely quick to anger. Even his beloved or most trusted ones are not safe when Henry's wrath is aroused, though he may later show regret after their inevitable demise; the executions of his old friend and teacher Thomas More, and his wife Anne Boleyn in Season Two, demonstrated how far Henry's anger can go. Only Henry's best friend, Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk, survives the entirety of Henry's reign and remains in favor at his death, and this is because he is careful not to become to closely involved in political/religious matters. Although he genuinely loved all his wives (with the possible exception of Anne of Cleves) Henry's love could be very conditional, as was proved by the downfalls of Catherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn, Anne of Cleves and Katherine Howard. Henry remained a phenomenal womanizer throughout his reign until his final years, even cheating on his most beloved queen, Jane Seymour; he would take and later discard various mistresses for short periods of time, although the only one he ever asked to become his maitresse en titre ('official mistress') was Anne Boleyn, who refused. Despite this, Henry cares deeply for all his children (even though he disowns his two daughters at various points due to his quest to father a son) and ultimately refuses to harm any of them. In Season one, when his bastard son Henry Fitzroy dies of the plague, Henry is shown weeping and staring at a miniature crown he had given the little boy a few months before, having bestowed him as a Duke. Henry's passions never truly die; he shows overwhelming grief on the death of his third and most beloved Queen, Jane Seymour, and shows eventual regret over the deaths of his first and second Queens (Catherine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn) despite both marriages having ended badly. Henry enjoys sports of every kind as well as gambling, but he is a bit of a sore loser; he reacted badly on several occasions when three of his respective queen consorts (Anne Boleyn, Anne of Cleves, and Catherine Parr) beat him at cards. Category:Characters